March in Rome as part of national strike in Italy against government’s budget plans

(12 Dec 2025) RESTRICTION SUMMARY: ASSOCIATED PRESS Rome - 12 December 2025 1. Wide of marching band 2. Mid of protesters holding flags 3. Wide of demonstrators holding banner reading (Italian) "Three things must come down: bills, the high cost of living, and people over 60 from scaffolding." 4. Close of banner 5. Wide of marching band 6. Mid of flare and flags 7. SOUNDBITE (Italian) Alessandro Ascani, union representative for Fillea CGIL: "The budget law does not provide for anything for any sector, it only provides for spending a lot of money to rearm a country against an imaginary enemy, because we do not have external enemies as they would have us believe. We have no one who wants to invade us. We should invest our money in the priorities of this country, which are certainly not weapons." 8. Mid of protester with flare 9. Wide of protesters 10. SOUNDBITE (Italian) Grazia Maria Pistorino, Secretary General of Flc Cgil Sicily: “As a school union, we believe that public education should be valued, along with all the demands of the international union. Here is our slogan, ‘Go public, fund education.’ We are in favor of funding public schools in the budget law and against increased funding for private schools.” 11. Close of a banner showing U.S. President Donald Trump and Italy's Premier Giorgia Meloni, reading (Italian) "They play 'Risk', we pay the bill" 12. SOUNDBITE (Italian) Antonio Di Franco, Secretary General of Fillea CGIL: "There is no industrial policy. We are losing the steel industry in this country and, above all, the President of the United States of America is attacking our European welfare model. We are protective of our model because healthcare and public education are priorities for us." 13. Various of protest in front of Colosseum 14. SOUNDBITE (Italian) Natale Di Cola, Secretary General of CGIL Rome Lazio: "We are also taking to the streets because we are against this war economy and against rearmament. Workers will continue to protest because they want to change this country, they want to live in a country where their wages are enough to meet their needs, but above all, they want to be able to leave in the morning and return home in the evening, because the slaughter in the workplace must be stopped. We are here today in Rome and we will go to the Torre dei Conti, where a serious tragedy occurred just over a month ago, to honor all those who have died at work because we are convinced that the business model must also change." 15. Wide of union representatives, firefighters and former colleague of Octav Stroici posing by wreath at site where Stroici died due to the partial collapse of the Torre dei Conti 16. Various of memorial for people killed in workplace STORYLINE: Hundreds of people took to the streets Friday in Rome, as part of a national strike called by Italy’s largest trade union in protest against the government’s budget plans. The strike widely disrupted transportation, health and school services across the country. The protest, which targets the 2026 budget bill proposed by the conservative government of Giorgia Meloni, comes just two weeks after the last general strike. Alessandro Ascani, a representative for the Fillea CGIL union, said the budget designates too much money to defense spending. "We should invest our money in the priorities of this country, which are certainly not weapons," he told The Associated Press. Antonio Di Franco, the Secretary General of Fillea CGIL, criticized the lack of protection for the Italian steel industry. AP video by Silvia Stellacci Produced by Joel Paqui Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...